Every single DUer should read this.

[democrank]

This is what`s happening while many DUers are busy posting meaningless bullshit. WAKE THE HELL UP!



http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x5248211

[sharesunited]

1. I would like to talk young people out of enlisting.

And I would like to convince Marine captains who have voted Republican all their life to leave the corps and vote Democratic.

Where can I go to do this.

[RedCappedBandit]

15. I always try...

So many of my friends think its a great idea to go and join the military. I always try to talk them out of it. Dunno what they're thinking .. How anyone can still enlist to fight in this war is beyond me.

[proud2BlibKansan]

2. I may be accused of posting meaningless b.s.

because I post articles that point to why Hillary shouldn't be elected. If we want this war to end, she won't do it and neither will McCain.

[bryant69]

5. Neither will Obama, depending on your definition of ending the war

Obama and Clinton have the same position on Iraq, more or less.

Bryant

[lame54]

3. How many more have to die? - Tribute video...

a tribute to the fallen
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tMACzBomDK4

[bryant69]

4. People are dying in a war? You don't say?

Gosh that's terrible, why didn't someone say something sooner?

Bryant
Check it out --> http://politicalcomment.blogspot.com

[RedCappedBandit]

14. ..

:thumbsup:

[devilgrrl]

6. Get off of your high horse

:nuke:

[devilgrrl]

7. BTW, why do people keep forgetting the casualties not included in the 4,000 figure?

How about those who died in hospital due to injuries received in Iraq? You know that those individuals deaths aren't registered as war casualties?

Wake the hell up!!!!!

[Serial Mom]

21. I don't.... I cry for all those who die in wartime!

even those not listed as combat deaths
(see http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x3239329)

We are probably closer to 5-6,000 deaths when we add suicides and non-combat or accidental deaths. 2 years ago I heard there were many deaths of troops "accidentally" falling of rooftops - do we believe they were accidents?

And if they DIE during a "war", they ALL should be considered combat related IMHO

[Blue_Tires]

8. we're in a war? as if..

when did THAT happen?

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

9. I would think all DUers are perfectly aware of what's happening.

We wouldn't be here if it wasn't the case. Sometimes, meaningless bullshit is a must to keep our sanity in check, as it is all so overwhelming.

BTW.. the vast majority of the threads on this board are not meaningless bullshit. Maybe not war related, but related to the consistent erosion of our government and way of life.

[Ichingcarpenter]

10. I read it and nominated it without comment. n/t

[Tandalayo_Scheisskopf]

11. Ok.

Now my heart is broken for sure.

[Matariki]

12. Gotta love how people who 'voted republican all their lives' are telling us to WAKE UP PEOPLE

Not to dimiss his personal tragedy, but telling people who've been against the war since before it began, and warned people about Bush since before he was 'elected' to WAKE UP, is kind of rude.

[RedCappedBandit]

13. I know, right? WTF

I've BEEN 'awake'

His family has my sympathies, but give me a fucking break. We aren't the ones who enabled this tragedy.

[democrank]

16. An 18-year old kid got killed and this is your response, kineta?

Unbelievable

[Matariki]

18. A whole lot of 18 year olds would still be alive -

if a bunch of politically stupid people hadn't voted for Bush in the first place. Along with 4000 other Americans and COUNTLESS Iraqi men, women and children.

So yeah, that IS my response, which if you actually read you'd see that my intent wasn't to dismiss the gentleman's personal tragedy. But I don't appreciate his all caps command to WAKE UP either. Considering how many people here have spoken out against the war since day one. That goes for the subject line in this OP as well.

[Matariki]

20. And while I'm at it

Isn't it predictably republican behavior to only care about things when they become personal? War, health care, global warming - they never seem to care or want to do anything about it until it hits them personally.

[Two Americas]

17. "rude"

"Rude" I will happily live with. I don't think the ongoing catastrophe and human carnage is on an equal footing with my personal feelings or stance as one who was "right."

I think that we all need to wake up to some extent, and I am glad that someone is telling me to "wake up." I can't imagine anything better than millions of people telling me to "wake up." Some of those who fancy themselves to be so awake are merely flattering themselves.

Being "right" - in a self-centered and self-righteous way - is the consolation prize in politics. Worrying about one's "status" as an activist is contradictory to and destructive of political effectiveness and power.

Here is how we - the "awake ones" - are asleep: we place being "right" above effective results; we prize our own personal stance above collective action. That reflects a chronic and pervasive mindset among too many of us liberals and Democrats, and is a key part of the problem. It enables the opposition. It alienates and estranges us from the general public. It sabotages the left. It makes politics into a quasi-spiritual movement of self-actualization, which complements and reinforces the right wing "personal responsibility" libertarianism.

I don't expect anyone to care if I am right, or was right, nor when I was right. I don't think any of this is about me at all. I can endure "rude" indefinitely.

[lonestarnot]

19. Ugh it was your family who let the kid "volunteer." You better do the waking up!

[Sugar Smack]

22. I'd like to know some things. What specifically set you off with regard to "bullshit"

posts? What do you consider "meaningless bullshit"? Is it in GD or GDP?
While some people may post meaningless bullshit in one forum on DU, who's to say the same people aren't posting & reading important things in another forum on DU? Why are you telling posters here to wake the hell up?

[Karenina]

24. It's because s/he has been asleep SO LONG

unable to "get it" until it hit close to home.

[Westegg]

23. I am aware of the death count, and yet...

...I continue to post "meaningless bullshit" here and elsewhere. Can I hold these two seemingly "contradictory" thoughts in my head at the same time without dying of shame? Why, yes I can. Does this mean I am not awake? Well, no it doesn't.

I am awake, and have been for decades now. Imagine that.

I have done many things, over the years, to try to stop this war, and other wars. I have done so with my time, my body, my sweat, my money, my spirit and my mind. And yet I continue to post "meaningless bullshit" on DU and elsewhere.

I'm sorry for the Marine Captain who lost his 18-year-old brother. I'll say a prayer for him tonight. And tomorrow, I'll be back to posting "meaningless bullshit" on DU and elsewhere.

Frankly, I find the post I am replying to arrogant, or at the least presumptuous.